There are a number of type of categories for gifts. Explain the significance of these categories.
The gifts on the website can generally be divided into three categories. The first of these being cakes, as cakes are a pretty universal way of celebrating a special occasion, and as the website suggests both Ethiopian holidays such as Fasika and Genna, but other events such as birthdays, anniversaries and weddings. Sheep is significant because both Christians (about 30%) and Muslims (about 60%) can eat it. So their market is broader. Also, a large part of the Ethiopian population still inhabit more rural areas, this means, that using a sheep as a gift is also practical. Lastly, alcohol is generally speaking expensive (especially the foregin brands for sale on the the ethiogift website) this means that it would be a "treat" to recieve this from a family member overseas as it may not be readily available/affordable in Ethiopia. The last two smaller categories are flowers and baby gifts which are quite universal in different cultures to celebrate anniversaries, birthdays- they are general gifts that can be used for different occasions. http://www.everyculture.com/multi/Du-Ha/Ethiopian-Americans.html
(Age of recipients - is it OK to send alcohol?).
Explain the date system
The date system seen on the website, is actually set so that it uses the Ethiopian calendar system (The Ge'ez calendar). This is set so that they are actually in the year 2003. It is important to translate the dates so that the gifts can be delivered in a timely manner, and mix-ups are avoided- once the order is made. This is also because a lot of the Ethiopian festivals use their traditional calendar, it is convinient for the customer to know when they should order/organianize the gifts to arrive.
Why is the language of the site in English? Is this the main language of Ethiopia? Why
Prices of the products
Do you think these prices are reasonable?
(compare with other websites)
compared to other websites it is fairly cheaper. when looking at a website that sells baby goats for either £130 or £230 (http://www.allthingsrural.co.uk/Goats+For+Sale)
Currency convertor - why is that there
To advertize their products to other countries
To convert prices for people buying gifts for people that live in ethiopia while they might live abroad.
Explain/describe the cultural signifigance of the gifts.
Some of the gifts offered on the site include: - Sheep
As Ethiopia is made up of mainly Muslims and Catholics and a small percentage of Jews. Sheep can be eaten by all of these religions and as it arrives alive, can be prepared in whatever way the religion sees ceremonially appropriote. - Alcohol
Usually expensive and hard to find if imported, receiving alcohol from an overseas family member would be mean giving family access to something not usually accquired. Although Muslims don't drink, this would be appreciated. - Cake
Cakes with imported ingredients would be hard for Ethiopians to ms to make or purchase whereas its easier for overseas people to purchase and send them. All religions appreciate this.
Examine the FAQ:
- FAQ stands for "frequently asked questions"
- The sentence "Can I make an order to someone if I know only his or her phone number but not woreda oe kebele?" asks if a customer can still order gifts if they know the recipient's phone number but not the district (woreda) or neighborhood (kebele) that they live in.
Examine the Terms of Service: Spot the spelling errors - do these matter?
"Remember your familly and friends backhome on holidays". This is from the front page. As you can see there is a minor spelling error, however this does not hinder the user's ability to understand the meaning. So the SPELLING errors are not such a concern. However it seems that in other parts of the website whole sentences use confusing diction and this may hinder understanding.
Examine the references to the sheep
"EthioGift does not guaranty the origin or type of the sheep except for the weight (EthioGift makes a lot of effort to to choose types of sheep that are the choice of most people, but cannot guaranty that the sheep will be from certain locality or breed of the customer)
Look at the reference to the telephone.
"EthioGift warranties that your gift will be delivered on the requested date provided:
the telephone number (or numbers) you have provided is correct and is/are in working condition"
Here we can see that if the telephone number is not working, the gift delivery will not be warrantied. The significance of this is that not everyone has telephones. That means many people may not receive the gift that someone has paid for.
"Ethiopia has 8.6 landlines per 1,000 people and 5.8 mobile phones per 1,000 people, the lowest rate in Africa, according to the latest Africa Development Indicator 2007 report from the World Bank. Just 4.4% of households have their own telephone, the number is higher in the urban area with 35.3% of households have their own telephone. In rural areas the percentage of households with a telephone is 0.2%" - http://nazret.com/blog/index.php/2007/11/15/ethiopia_has_africa_s_lowest_mobile_phon
digital divide
Ethiopia has the second lowest Internet penetration rate in sub-Saharan Africa (only Sierra Leone’s is lower) and is currently attempting a broad expansion of access throughout the country.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenNet_Initiative] These efforts have been hampered by the largely rural makeup of the Ethiopian population and the government’s refusal to permit any privatization of the telecommunications market. Only 360,000 people had Internet access in 2008.
Literacy rate (% of people age 15+) - 35.9%
Internet users (% of population) 0.5%
General Information in TOS
"The TOS constitute the entire agreement between you and EthioGift and governs your use of the Service, superceding any prior agreements between you and EthioGift. The failure of EthioGift to exercise or enforce any right or provision of the TOS shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. The section titles in the TOS are for convenience only and have no legal or contractual effect."
Here you can see the meaning is not clear. Each word may be spelt correctly, however when put together into a sentence it does not make much sense (even to a native English speaker). The significance of this is that customers may not understanding the meaning of the general information and may feel tricked. However, it must also be remembered that the people are not native English speakers and so perhaps this is the type of language they learn at school, and other Ethiopians may understand the meaning.
Cultural Significance and Background
There are a number of type of categories for gifts. Explain the significance of these categories.The gifts on the website can generally be divided into three categories. The first of these being cakes, as cakes are a pretty universal way of celebrating a special occasion, and as the website suggests both Ethiopian holidays such as Fasika and Genna, but other events such as birthdays, anniversaries and weddings. Sheep is significant because both Christians (about 30%) and Muslims (about 60%) can eat it. So their market is broader. Also, a large part of the Ethiopian population still inhabit more rural areas, this means, that using a sheep as a gift is also practical. Lastly, alcohol is generally speaking expensive (especially the foregin brands for sale on the the ethiogift website) this means that it would be a "treat" to recieve this from a family member overseas as it may not be readily available/affordable in Ethiopia. The last two smaller categories are flowers and baby gifts which are quite universal in different cultures to celebrate anniversaries, birthdays- they are general gifts that can be used for different occasions.
http://www.everyculture.com/multi/Du-Ha/Ethiopian-Americans.html
(Age of recipients - is it OK to send alcohol?).
Explain the date system
The date system seen on the website, is actually set so that it uses the Ethiopian calendar system (The Ge'ez calendar). This is set so that they are actually in the year 2003. It is important to translate the dates so that the gifts can be delivered in a timely manner, and mix-ups are avoided- once the order is made. This is also because a lot of the Ethiopian festivals use their traditional calendar, it is convinient for the customer to know when they should order/organianize the gifts to arrive.
Why is the language of the site in English? Is this the main language of Ethiopia? Why
Prices of the products
Do you think these prices are reasonable?
(compare with other websites)
compared to other websites it is fairly cheaper. when looking at a website that sells baby goats for either £130 or £230 (http://www.allthingsrural.co.uk/Goats+For+Sale)
Currency convertor - why is that there
To advertize their products to other countries
To convert prices for people buying gifts for people that live in ethiopia while they might live abroad.
Compare to prices of same products around the world
ETHIOGIFT - $104 (cost on site)
$90-$170 usd saudi (http://www.alibaba.com/product-free/111694577/Sheep.html)
$124 - 170usd sudan (http://www.alibaba.com/product-free/110097521/Live_Stock_Sheep_Goat_and_Cattle.html)
Explain/describe the cultural signifigance of the gifts.
Some of the gifts offered on the site include:
- Sheep
As Ethiopia is made up of mainly Muslims and Catholics and a small percentage of Jews. Sheep can be eaten by all of these religions and as it arrives alive, can be prepared in whatever way the religion sees ceremonially appropriote.
- Alcohol
Usually expensive and hard to find if imported, receiving alcohol from an overseas family member would be mean giving family access to something not usually accquired. Although Muslims don't drink, this would be appreciated.
- Cake
Cakes with imported ingredients would be hard for Ethiopians to ms to make or purchase whereas its easier for overseas people to purchase and send them. All religions appreciate this.
Examine the FAQ:
- FAQ stands for "frequently asked questions"
- The sentence "Can I make an order to someone if I know only his or her phone number but not woreda oe kebele?" asks if a customer can still order gifts if they know the recipient's phone number but not the district (woreda) or neighborhood (kebele) that they live in.
Examine the Terms of Service:
Spot the spelling errors - do these matter?
"Remember your familly and friends backhome on holidays". This is from the front page. As you can see there is a minor spelling error, however this does not hinder the user's ability to understand the meaning. So the SPELLING errors are not such a concern. However it seems that in other parts of the website whole sentences use confusing diction and this may hinder understanding.
Examine the references to the sheep
"EthioGift does not guaranty the origin or type of the sheep except for the weight (EthioGift makes a lot of effort to to choose types of sheep that are the choice of most people, but cannot guaranty that the sheep will be from certain locality or breed of the customer)
Look at the reference to the telephone.
"EthioGift warranties that your gift will be delivered on the requested date provided:
the telephone number (or numbers) you have provided is correct and is/are in working condition"
Here we can see that if the telephone number is not working, the gift delivery will not be warrantied. The significance of this is that not everyone has telephones. That means many people may not receive the gift that someone has paid for.
"Ethiopia has 8.6 landlines per 1,000 people and 5.8 mobile phones per 1,000 people, the lowest rate in Africa, according to the latest Africa Development Indicator 2007 report from the World Bank. Just 4.4% of households have their own telephone, the number is higher in the urban area with 35.3% of households have their own telephone. In rural areas the percentage of households with a telephone is 0.2%" - http://nazret.com/blog/index.php/2007/11/15/ethiopia_has_africa_s_lowest_mobile_phon
digital divide
Ethiopia has the second lowest Internet penetration rate in sub-Saharan Africa (only Sierra Leone’s is lower) and is currently attempting a broad expansion of access throughout the country.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenNet_Initiative] These efforts have been hampered by the largely rural makeup of the Ethiopian population and the government’s refusal to permit any privatization of the telecommunications market. Only 360,000 people had Internet access in 2008.
Literacy rate (% of people age 15+) - 35.9%
Internet users (% of population) 0.5%
General Information in TOS
"The TOS constitute the entire agreement between you and EthioGift and governs your use of the Service, superceding any prior agreements between you and EthioGift. The failure of EthioGift to exercise or enforce any right or provision of the TOS shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. The section titles in the TOS are for convenience only and have no legal or contractual effect."
Here you can see the meaning is not clear. Each word may be spelt correctly, however when put together into a sentence it does not make much sense (even to a native English speaker). The significance of this is that customers may not understanding the meaning of the general information and may feel tricked. However, it must also be remembered that the people are not native English speakers and so perhaps this is the type of language they learn at school, and other Ethiopians may understand the meaning.